Bearstalk

http://chicagobearsfanforum.com/blog/?p=260 The Bears * Brad Biggs of The Chicago Sun-Times blogs that Bears RB Cedric Benson has lost only four pounds between last year and this year, something he clearly doesn't believe: Slimmed down running back Cedric Benson is listed at 216 pounds, down four from last year's list. If he's 216 now, he wasn't 220 last year. Well, whatever he weighs now and whatever he weighed then, if the weight loss is all flab then its all good. * From Pro Football Weekly's Whispers Column: Injury-prone Bears WR Mark Bradley, who is recovering from early-May arthroscopic surgery on his right…

Points of View, June 2, 2008 http://chicagobearsfanforum.com/blog/?p=261 The Bears * Brad Biggs of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that WRs coach Darryl Drake believes the wide receivers are better this year even without Bernard Berrian and Muhsin Muhammad: "There's a lot more explosion out here right now." I want to believe... * Mike Mulligan, also of the Sun-Times has a fluff piece today on Devin Hester in which he says Hester needs to be paid. The part the stuck out to me were one or two comments from Drake like this one: "He has as good a pair of hands as anybody. And then his natural ability to run after…

http://chicagobearsfanforum.com/blog/?p=262 Very slow news week. Here's hoping things pick up with the Bears Expo this weekend. The Bears * The Chicago Tribune's Rick Morrissey wrote and interesting column on the Rex Grossman/Kyle Orton QB competition the other day. It expresses my point of view pretty well. But maybe it doesn't. But maybe it does... * Pat Kirwan at NFL.com writes about camp battles to keep an eye on, highlight among others, the batle betwen Grossman and Orton: Then, of course, there are the head-to-head battles between veterans that should have happened years ago but finally will take place in 2008.…

Points of View, May 11, 2008 http://chicagobearsfanforum.com/blog/?p=241 The Bears * Jerry Angelo finally commented upon the Cedric Benson arrest yesterday. “The thing that I am most disappointed in is the fact that he put himself in a position to be the victim.'' I couldn't agree more. Benson stated that he felt that he'd been targeted and his friend said that he'd been boarded at least six times. In addition, no one denies that he'd been drinking. As a pro athlete you do have a responsibility not to put yourself in that position and he, by his own admission, certainly did. I might also mention that I think Angelo's comments were more …

http://chicagobearsfanforum.com/blog/?p=242 The Bears * Brad Biggs of the Chicago Sun-Times says that Kyle Orton believes the wide receiver position has been “upgraded”: “The guys have been there [in the offseason program]. The receivers have been there and I’m real excited about them. I think we’ve got a lot of talent and really upgraded at the position.” Biggs suggests that this may have been a veiled swipe at Muhsin Muhammad, who had a bad habit of throwing QBs under the bus when things weren't going well. Could be. But I think they're going to miss Muhammad more than most people think. For whatever reason, t…

http://chicagobearsfanforum.com/blog/?p=243 The Bears * Robbie Gould signed a contract that makes him the highest paid kicker in the NFL. Mike Mulligan of the Chicago Sun-Times has been claiming for some time that something like this was on the horizon because the Bears like to offset bad publicity (read “Cedric Benson”) with good news. Of course, we would all have rather had that good news be the signing of Tommie Harris. But we'll take what we can get. * Speaking of Harris. Message to Jerry Angelo: Give him what he wants. He's the center of your defense and, unlike Lance Briggs, he's not replaceable. Stop looking for an early si…

http://chicagobearsfanforum.com/blog/?p=243 The Bears * Robbie Gould signed a contract that makes him the highest paid kicker in the NFL. Mike Mulligan of the Chicago Sun-Times has been claiming for some time that something like this was on the horizon because the Bears like to offset bad publicity (read “Cedric Benson”) with good news. Of course, we would all have rather had that good news be the signing of Tommie Harris. But we'll take what we can get. * Speaking of Harris. Message to Jerry Angelo: Give him what he wants. He's the center of your defense and, unlike Lance Briggs, he's not replaceable. Stop looking for an early si…

http://chicagobearsfanforum.com/blog/?p=245 The Bears * Mike Florio of The Sporting News rates the ten worse moves and non-moves of the NFL offseason. Who's number 1? The Bears, failing to do anything at QB, something that Florio attributes to the arrogance of Jerry Angelo. “Chicago Bears G.M. Jerry Angelo reminds us of the guy at the end of Animal House who was saying, "All is well," while all heck was breaking loose at the parade that Bluto and company crashed.” As anyone who regularly reads this space knows, I whole heartedly agree. * Josh Alper at profootballtalk.com chimes in on the Brian Urlacher contract situat…

Friday, May 16, 2008 Points of View, May 16, 2008 http://chicagobearsfanforum.com/blog/?p=246 The Bears * Rex Grossman spoke briefly to the Chicago Tribune yesterday. Among other things he expressed gratitude toward the Bears for giving him another opportunity with a one-year deal. Grossman evidently doesn't understand that he's going to get as many chances as he needs until he either succeeds for at least one year and gets a long-term contract or GM Jerry Angelo, who took him in the first round, gets himself fired. Dick Jauron was less loyal to John Shoop. * Lovie Smith answered questions from fans on chicagobears.co…

Points of View, May 18, 2008 May 18th, 2008 Tom Shannon Posted in Points of View | No Comments » Edit | The Bears * Lovie Smith answers more questions: If Devin Hester played for another team, would you kick the ball to him? Fabian C. Gilroy, California If I was a coach from the opposing team, yeah, I would kick to him. You can’t let one guy take you out of your game plan. I’d have a hard time going in and telling my team, “Hey, this guy is so good we’re not going to kick to him,” so yeah, I would. Of course, it’s easy for me to say that. Translation: “Other coaches have no guts. They back away and let one man beat them …

http://chicagobearsfanforum.com/blog/?p=250 The Bears * Brad Biggs at the Chicago Sun-Times blogs that Cedric Benson isn't at OTAs even though his court date, which was to be the first day, has been rescheduled. I'm sure Benson will have (another) good excuse. * Not surprisingly, Brain Urlacher was also missing as he cuddles some more with his fiance in Arizona. [head shake] Chicks. Elsewhere * The Bengals' Odell Thurman has been released by the Bengals. This wouldn't be news except for the implication that Thurman was released because he missed organized team activities at least partly due to the death of…

http://chicagobearsfanforum.com/blog/?p=251 The Bears The Bears have added a new scout, presumably to help out on the east coast. Just so you'll know who (else) to blame. Cedric Benson is back at work. No word on why he missed a day but we'll cut him some slack because it's not a crime. As far as we know... David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune makes a legitimate argument that Devin Hester could be among the biggest losers in the decision to opt out of the CBA. Thought playing offensive line was the dirties job in the NFL? Come inside the mind of Israel Idonije of your Chicago Bears. Elsewhere Presumably the vot to opt out of the CBA was u…

http://chicagobearsfanforum.com/blog/ The Bears Brad Biggs blogs that Mark Bradley had arthroscopic surgery earlier this month. He's questionable for the start of training camp. This makes Brandon Lloyd's acquisition all the more important. He was running with the first team. * Biggs also reports that Dan Bazuin is not at Halas Hall. No word on why yet. In other news: o John Tait is lining up at right tackle o Danieal Manning is back at saftey. Manning also is lining up at nickel back (not good news for Ricky Manning). o Terrance Metcalf is lining up wit…

http://chicagobearsfanforum.com/blog/?p=253 The Bears * The Sun-Times’ Mike Mulligan isn’t buying into any reasons for optimism right now. With Mark Bradley out he would certainly seem to have a point. He sees little reason to have any faith in Brandon Lloyd given his history. He also points out that a lighter Cedric Benson doesn’t necessarily mean good things for a power running game. I have to say that I agree with the first but I do have some hope for Benson. I really don’t think those 10 pounds he lost are going to make that much difference in his power and he did look out of shape last year. Hey, its May. Let the optimism last whil…

http://chicagobearsfanforum.com/blog/?p=254 The Bears * Brad Biggs blogs that Cedric Benson has was in court yesterday but not for boating. He was in for a speeding ticket. At first I thought, “No big deal.” But hen I read that he was fined $510 and given supervision. That was some serious speeding. * Count Rashaan Salaam as one of those who isn’t buying into the idea that Cedric Benson finally gets it. “They’ve given him everything,” Salaam said. ”But they’re getting tired of him. I have the most respect for the Chicago Bears organization for sticking with this dude. They are really looking out for Cedric Benson, treating him like he’s…

http://chicagobearsfanforum.com/blog/?p=256 The Bears * Very slow news time for the NFL. So ESPN's John Clayton fills the gap by listing the top seven non-moves of the offseason. You guessed it. The Bears were near the top. 2. Bears don't improve passing offense Coming off their 2006 Super Bowl run, the Bears naturally had to stick with Rex Grossman at quarterback. But the offense dropped to 29th in the NFL last season. Since then, what the Bears did to fix things looked like a caulking job at old Soldier Field. They invested little money to improve the offense. Grossman and Kyle Orton were re-signed for backup salaries ($3 million a yea…

http://chicagobearsfanforum.com/blog/?p=257 The Bears * Former Bear Roosevelt Colvin is claiming interest from the Cleveland Browns and the New York Jets. Michael david Smith at profootballtalk.com thinks it might be a ploy to drum up interest (and I agree). * Bob LeGere writes a nice piece on Bears new/old WR Marty Booker. On the QB "competition": "Dude, in my career I've had like almost 20 different quarterbacks (17 actually), so as far as adjusting to anybody, that's not a problem," he said. "That's the least of everything." Booker might or might noot have the savvy that Muhsin Muhammad had but its pretty evident h…

http://chicagobearsfanforum.com/blog/?p=258 The Bears * Larry Mayer answers an interesting question on chicagobears.com. In the "fair" camp competition between Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton, how will the Bears simulate the pass rush? The question is significant because the perception is that Orton stands in against the rush better. Here's the answer: The defense blitzes and rushes the quarterback in training camp, but as you mentioned, they’re not allowed to make contact. The quarterbacks are taught to unload the ball when under pressure and find their “hot” receiver when blitzed, but there’s truly no way to replicate actual game conditions. I …

Points of View, May 31, 2008 http://chicagobearsfanforum.com/blog/?p=259 The Bears * The Chicago Tribune's David Haugh has a nice take on Brian Urlacher deciding to show up for mandatory workouts. Showing up simply represents the best negotiating ploy for Urlacher, who still will be seeking a new contract Friday when he enters Halas Hall. If he is cleared to participate fully in practice, this would give Urlacher a great opportunity to disprove any doubts about his back and surgically repaired neck. Nothing backs up Urlacher's words that he has recovered well from neck surgery and got in shape in Arizona than showing it on a practic…

I like the look of the cover, they went with Troy Polamalu & Larry Fitz in the first dual cover we've seen. Nice look to it and the splatter effect on the box looks pretty good. I am going to make my own custom one so the selection of the two doesn't bother me. Thoughts? Credit to AlterEgo of VSN on finding it http://www.virtualsportsnetwork.com/forum/...ead.php?t=17340